Free ranging at certain times?

[FC16]

I’m going away from tomorrow to next Friday, I have somebody to lock them in at night and ensure they have food/water. However they won’t be gettting any treats/attention for 5 days like they usually would do . I feel a bit bad so for a couple hours I’m letting them roam the whole garden for a change as usually they’re confined to a pen.

They absolutely love it, they immediately ran to the grass and started eating away.

So I was wondering, would it be okay in future to allow them to have the garden for just a few hours a day at a time, and then put them back in the pen? Or would it confuse them?
I leave the gate to the pen open so they can come in and out for food.

Also, the only real predators I get in the part of the UK I’m in is foxes, and it’s very rare to see them about in the day, the garden is also very secure.

 

[azygous]

Yes, they would be just fine having limited access to the garden. If you watch chickens, they only spend so much time out in the open, and then enjoy relaxing under cover.

I have twenty chickens who have a covered run. They get to go out each day, but after one or two hours, they are all back in the run by choice.